Gary Paffett is doing his best to look on the bright side after Mercedes’ shock announcement on Monday that they will be withdrawing from the DTM at the end of 2018 to join the growing Formula E Championship.

The Haverhill-based Mercedes driver admitted the news came as a total surprise to him and everyone else in the team but said that there may yet be an upside to the manufacturer’s exit.

“The news came as a real shock,” he said.

“There have been discussions for years in DTM as manufacturers come and go but Mercedes have been there from the start and I never really had any doubt that they would continue. So this was totally unexpected.

He continued: “The series was due a big regulation change from 2019 anyway, and there had already been discussions about things like engines.

“With new series chief Gerhard Berger – okay, it’s not an ideal start for him with this – there’s perhaps an opportunity to change the series and do something great. Hopefully they can look at things in a different way and look at the positives rather than dwell on the negatives. That’s the way I’m looking at it anyway.”

Paffett, champion in 2005, continued: “Obviously I’m not overjoyed with the situation because I have to start looking at other options but Mercedes have done well to give everyone time. There’s 18 months left before they withdraw so people have time to find something else. And importantly, the series has 18 months to find its feet and see what it’s going to do.”

However, Paffett acknowledged that the uncertainty over the future of the series following Monday’s developments is a major cause for concern, especially as the two remaining teams, BMW and Audi, will likely re-evaluate their involvement in the DTM.

“Formula E is still a relatively young championship but has established itself well in the last two years. Mercedes feel it’s a direction they want to go in, like a lot of manufacturers, and it’s somewhere they want to be seen. Mercedes have electric cars and some of the road car market is going in that direction. It’s a shame Mercedes are leaving DTM but I understand where they’re coming from.”

“With one manufacturer leaving the championship the chance of attracting another is worse,” he said.

“As it is with three manufacturers, it’s a great series. But with one leaving, other manufacturers may look at it and ask if it’s the right thing for them to be doing. It’s hard to see another manufacturer coming in so it’s a case of looking at the series with Audi and BMW and seeing where we go from here.

“You can’t expect Audi and BMW to simply increase their squads to make up the grid, that’s not going to happen. But maybe things can be done in a different way.”

On his own future, 36-year-old Paffett is keen to continue if the series if possible and has no intention to call time on his career just yet.

“I’ve had a really good year so far,” he said.

“I feel as good as I’ve ever been and driving as well as ever. I’m certainly not looking to retire and I’ll definitely be looking to see what options are available after 2018.

“Motorsport is different to other sports as we don’t suffer the same physical issues. As long as you have the passion, commitment and motivation, you can do it for a long time and that’s how I feel at the moment,

“I’ve changed how I do things and that has kept me at the front of the field and I feel very happy with how I’ve done this year. I still feel as though I have a number of years left.”

Paffett endured a mixed weekend at the latest DTM round in Moscow at the weekend.

He finished seventh in race one, despite sustaining some damage to his Mercedes-AMG C63 after a turn one tussle with Jamie Green’s Audi.

And although he crossed the finish line in 11th in race two, he was handed a 30-second penalty for a collision with Loic Duval that put him in 16th place.